Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2002 21:02:55 -0800 From: arthur Subject: new sunrise part1 // sioni // adult/youth NEW SUNRISE Part One By Arthur Authors Note: Here at last is the continuation of Sioni's story which is due to the persistant demands of a very understanding if impatient following of his, I hereby bow to your better judgement and let him live again. All the usual restrictions apply to this story as far as age and copyright so if you are under your parents thumb don't go any further, if you're not then you must have left home, so welcome, only non profit organisations or readers may copy this for their own files unless approved by the author. It had been three years since Ben had passed on and Sioni have been very busy with the new department at work, his responsibilities as a junior partner had meant he had very little time to himself, he thought back to those first days after Bens death and the love and support the two partners had offered him both with his home life and with furthering his education at night school, he had worked hard and had got his certificate for his NZQA pass in english and computer graphics, the work load had meant he had no time to himself for the last three years but he didn't mind, it helped to dull the pain of his loss most times, there were so many lonely nights when the loss was overwhelming and he cried himself to sleep only to awaken the next day to an empty house, so full of memories and good times but now lacking that warmth of anothers love . He sat on the veranda as the sun went down in the western sky, this was his first real holliday in three years, he didn't want to take it but the other partners had insisted, Ben had left him quite well off and the new department had been a great boost to the company coffers, they had told him to take a month off and travel or go fishing or just laze around, he tried to relax but the memories kept flooding back, it was times like this that he missed Ben the most. He had never gone looking for another partner after his loss, it just didn't seem right somehow, now as he sat there looking down to the jetty and their boat rocking gentley on its mooring he thought of all the good times they had had out on the water, staying out overnight on the weekends and taking the boat up to the Bay of Islands for Xmas, spending three weeks together on the boat living and loving, the passion never going out of their lives as they enjoyed those six years of bliss. As darkness fell Sioni thought he caught a slight movement on the jetty near the boat, he stood and tried to peer through the dimness, there again, just near the stern, a shadow moved, bent near the ropes at the stern, Sioni jumped the handrail racing toward the jetty and as he hit the wooden walkway a figure straightened from its crouched position. "HEY YOU, WHAT YOU DOING?" The figure looked around for an escape route, there was only one, he dived over the side of the jetty just as Sioni got to where he'd been standing a second before, missing him by inches, then it must have hit the figure, he was in the water, deep water. "HELP. HELP. I CAN'T SWIM." Without a second thought Sioni was in the water reaching for the figure as it splashed and kicked trying to keep his head above water, as Sioni reached him his head disappeared below the surface a frantic arm waving above the water as a last plea, Sioni threw out a hand gripping tight to the small wrist as it began to sink into the dark depths. Sioni gave a mighty heave on the wrist as he tried to maintain his position near the figure, pulling with all his strength he finally saw the scared and frightened face of a young boy appear above the water and was almost overcome by the frantic scrabbling of the boy as he tried to save himself from drowning, Sioni turned him onto his back and placed a hand under his chin then swimming with his one free arm towed the boy to the beach beside the jetty where he laid him down looking like a drowned rat. "What you think you're doing boy?" Sioni looked down at the diminutive figure on the sand, he looked about fifteen but he was so skinny and his clothes so ragged that it was hard to tell his real age, he was about 5'4" with straight blonde hair over long and looking a little lank and unkempt, the eyes were pale blue almost a grey colour, the nose was small and had a few freckles over the bridge, if the face was not so gaunt from lack of a decent diet the boy might have been reasonably good looking in a boyish way, the eyes looking up into Sionis face held fear and uncertainty in them, in the last few years Sioni had got a growth spurt and was now a very solidly built young man as well as puting on a few inches in height and being an Islander the boy just knew he was in real trouble, big Islander guys like this one didn't like white kids, specially when they got wet in the middle of the night. "I asked you boy, what were you doing down at my boat?" "Yyyour bbboat, sssir, please sir don't hit me, I'm sorry, please I'll do anything, just don't hit me." "Yes kid, my boat, no I'm not going to hit you, now what were you up to?" "I wasn't going to steal anything mister, honest, I just wanted somewhere to sleep tonight." "Is that what you do, just use other peoples things when you want to?" "Nno ssir,it's just I have nowhere else to go." "Why not?" "No home ssir." Sioni thought back to a young boy standing alone on a wet, cold, windy night in the city and the palangi that picked him up and looked after him, asking nothing of him, just took him home to help him and he knew then what he had to do. "Can you walk boy?" "Yyes ssir." "My names Sioni, follow me, I want to get dry and I'm sure you want to." "Where are we going mister Sioni?" "MY house, get dry and get you something to eat, you want that?" "Thank you mister Sioni, my names Alex, how far is your house?" "Thats it up there and you don't need to use the mister, it's just Sioni." "Thank you Sioni, I really appreciate your help, I would've drown if you hadn't got me." "You can't swim and you take a nose dive into the water at night, not very bright are you?" "Well, you sort of scared the hell out of me, I didn't think." "OK enough talk, lets get to the house" When they got to the door the boy stopped and looking at the house hesitating to go inside. "Whats the matter?" "This is your house! oh I'm sorry I can't go inside, you'll have water everywhere." "Don't worry about it, if you like you can clean it up after you get warm and dry, and yes, it's my house." "Jeez Sioni, you look to young to own a house of you own." "It's a long story, now come on get in here and I'll get you sorted." "Wow, this is way cool, you have all this place to yourself?" "Yes, now the bathroom is through there, go have a hot shower and warm up, throw your clothes on the floor, we can wash them later, I'll have a look for something else for you, I still have some of my old clothes that should just about fit you in the mean time." "What about you, wont you want to use the shower first?" "No it's ok I'll use the other one in my bedroom, now go ahead, you're safe here, I'm not going to hurt you." "Ok, thanks again,ahm, how long can I stay in the shower?" "Long as you like, there's plenty of hot water." "Really, even like twenty minutes?" "As long as you want to, but I think I'd get out after half an hour or you'll look like a prune." "OK, thanks again Sioni." Sioni turned from the boy as he went to the bathroom and made his way through to his own bedroom for a quick shower to get rid of the salt on his skin, once that was done he put on his usual Lavalava instead of the shorts he'd been wearing earlier and went to look in the old cupboard for some of his clothes from before Ben died, they would be pretty close to fitting Alex, Sioni had not started his growth spurt until he was nearly eighteen and all the earlier clothes were still in perfect condition as they had always been well cleaned and cared for, finding a pair of shorts and a tee shirt Sioni wondered about underwear but decided to wait for Alex to make up his own mind about them. Sioni went to the door of the bathroom and knocked softly. "I've put some clothes here by the door for you, I'll go and get some dinner on." A muffled and watery "Thanks" came through the door, Sioni noticed a little steam coming from under the door, the kid must have the taps opened right out to build up a head of steam like that, going into the kitchen Sion took out the salad he'd made earlier and the bowl with the marinated fish done Island style with coconut cream and a little chili, then to the fridge again to get out the extra steak he'd need for Alex, with the potatoes done and in the pot he sat down to think of what to do next, then it became obvious to him, What would Ben have done?, he would have tried to help the kid, at least for tonight anyway, Sioni knew then that he had to do the right thing, if not for himself then for the memory of Ben, it gave him a calm feeling as he thought of it as a final gesture to his past lover. As he sat he heard the water turn off, 'not bad' he thought'only fourty minutes' the door opened then closed again, after five minutes it opened again but there was silence, Sioni got to his feet and headed toward the lounge then the bathroom but as he entered the lounge he saw Alex down on his hands and knees rubbing furiously with a towel at the water on the floor from their enterance. "What you doing Alex?" "You said I had to clean this up." "No Alex, you don't have to clean it up, I was only joking, I have a woman that comes in three days a week to do the cleaning, you dont have to do that." "Thank you Sioni but I think it's better if I do, I made the mess so I should clean it up." "Ok Alex, but there's really no need, that carpet is waterproof, we had it put there for the very reason that we used to come straight up from the beach or the boat and just plow right into the house for a shower." "Oh you're married then?" "Huh?" "You said 'We' before." "No Alex, I'm not married, a friend and I lived here before." "Oh she's not here anymore then." "She, was a He, no he died a while ago, now thats enough of that, lets go see how dinner is going." To Be Continued: